Self-closing container



Oct. 15, 1968 T. w. KELLOGG 3,405,849

SELF-CLOSING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 12, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet l Get. 15,1968 T. w. KELLOGG 3,405,849

SELF-CLOS ING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 12, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 y f wawa IOct. 15, 1968 T. w. KELLOGG 3,405,849

SELF-CLOSING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 12, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 UnitedStates Patent 3,405,849 SELF-CLOSING CONTAENER Thomas W. Kellogg,Newport Beach, Calif., assignor to Design Properties, Inc., Los Angeles,Caiifi, a corporation of Caiifornia Filed Jan. 12, 1967, Ser. No.608,891 Claims. (Cl. 222498) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The inventionrelates to a self-closing container of the type in which upper and lowersections of the container are interconnected by a bistable joint whichmay be either manually expanded or manually contracted with a snapaction, two portions of the container cooperating to close the containerin response to the contraction of the joint. The snap-action jointcomprises two conical circumferential walls of the container which areinterconnected either by their larger diameter ends or by their smallerdiameter ends, at least one of the two conical walls being reversiblewith a snap action.

Background of the invention The invention relates to a self-closingcontainer and pertains to class 222 of the Patent Ofiice classificationand subclasses thereof including subclasses 498 and 499.

The Moran Patent 3,260,425 issued July 12, 1966 discloses an uprightcontainer with an upper opening and with a snap-acting expansile joint,the joint comprising two circumferential conical walls each of theconfiguration of a tnmcated cone. The two conical walls are united witheach other at their larger ends and one of the two conical walls isreversible with a snap-action. In the Moran disclosure, one side of theexpansile joint which is the larger end of the lower conical wall isunited with the upper end of the body proper of the container and theother side of the expansile joint, i.e. the larger end of the upperconical Wall is unitary with a stopper element. At the contracted stateof the joint the stopper element closes the upper end of the containerbody and at the expanded state of the joint the stopper is spaced upwardfrom the upper end of the body. The ultimate purchases forms adispensing opening in the container by cutting away a portion of theexpansile joint in the region of the juncture of the larger ends of thetwo circumferential conical walls.

Other less pertinent disclosures may be found in the following patents:Schlicksupp, 2,628,004; Lacher, 2,698,-

115; and Bross, 3,193,154.

One disadvantage of the container structure disclosed in the Moranpatent is that the stopper cannot be depended upon to keep the containerclosed in a fluid-tight manner during the handling and shipping of thefilled container prior to the ultimate use of the container fordispensing the material therein. For this reason no opening exists inthe container wall until the user cuts away a portion of the containerwall to form a dispensing opening. It is obviously highly desirable toavoid the necessity of the ultimate purchaser finding a proper tool tomake the dispensing opening in the container wall.

A second disadvantage of the construction taught by the Moran patent isthe removal of material of the expansile joint at the juncture of thetwo conical walls to form a dispensing opening. This removal of materialat the juncture of the two conical walls necessarily weakens thesnap-action and also weakens the container itself.

A third disadvantage is that since the body of the container isconnected to the smaller end of the lower circumferential conical wallthat makes up the lower half of the expansile joint, the container mustnecessarily be restricted at its upper end to mate with the insidediameter of the lower circumferential conical wall and such restrictionreduces the capactiy of the container.

A fourth disadvantage is that the expansile joint of the Moran teachingflares radially outward. Thus the expansile joint forms acircumferential rib that increases the overall diameter of thecontainer. The increases in the overall diameter of the container may beavoided by necking down the container in the region of the expansilejoint but necking down the container has the result of still furtherreducing the capacity of the container.

The primary problem to which the present invention is directed is toeliminate all of the above mentioned disadvantages.

Summary of the invention Broadly described, the above explained problemis solved in large part by interconnecting the smaller ends of the twocircumferential conical walls of the joint instead of uniting the largerends and in further part by fabricating the container with an upperoutlet spaced away from the expansile joint.

By virtue of this concept, it is not necessary for the ultimatepurchaser to cut away a portion of the container to provide a dispensingopening and it is not necessary to weaken the expansile joint by thepresence of such a dispensing opening at the joint. It is further notnecessary to select a material for the container that has the requiredresilient flexibility and at the same time is sufiiciently frangible topermit severance by the ultimate purchaser.

Since the smaller ends of the two circumferential conical walls of theexpansile joint are united with each other, the body of the container isconnected to the larger end of one of the two conical walls. Thus it isnot necessary to neck down the adjoining portion of the body of thecontainer to match the limited diameter of the smaller end of acircumferential conical wall.

Since the smaller ends of the two circumferential conical walls of theexpansile joint are interconnected, instead of the larger ends, theexpansile joint is re-entrant, i.e. extends radially inward towards theinterior of the container. Thus the expansile joint does not form acircumferential rib to increase the overall diameter of the container.

The invention further teaches that portions of the container on oppositesides of the expansile joint may be suitably initially temporarilyinterconnected to keep the expansile joint contracted for the purpose ofkeeping the container closed in an effective manner during handling andshipping of the filled container. One of the disclosed methods ofreleasably interconnecting the two portions of the container for thispurpose is to bridge the expansile joint by means of sheet material thatis adhesively bonded to the container on opposite sides of the joint.Another disclosed method of interconnecting the two portions of thecontainer is to enclose the whole container in a shrunk envelope thatkeeps the container contracted, the envelope being of a character thatmay be easily manually ruptured and removed by the ultimate purchaser.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of afirst embodiment of the invention with the whole container enclosed in ashrunk plastic envelope for the purpose of handling and shipment priorto use of the container by the ultimate purchaser;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the container with theplastic envelope removed and with the snap action joint expanded to openthe container;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the joint contracted to closethe container;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the container on a smaller scale;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention,the container being enclosed by a shrunk plastic envelope for thepurpose of shipment;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the container with thesnap-action joint expanded to open the container;

FIG. 7 is a similar sectional view with the snap-action joint contractedto close the container;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention withthe two sections of the container interconnected by longitudinaladhesive strips to keep the container closed for handling and shipment;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing how a single circumferentialstrip of adhesive tape may be employed to bridge the snap-action jointduring shipment;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the snap-action jointexpanded to open the container; and

FIG. 11 is a similar view showing the joint contracted to close thecontainer.

Description of the preferred embodiments The first embodiment of theinvention shown in FIGS. 14 has an upper body section, generallydesignated 10, of somewhat reduced diameter with a circumferential wall12 and has a larger lower body section, generally designated 14 with acircumferential wall 15. The two body sections are interconnected by anexpansile snap-action joint comprising an upper conical wall 16 and alower conical wall 18 each of which is of the general configuration of a:uncated cone.

It is to be noted that the smaller diameter ends of the two conicalwalls 16 and 18 are unitary with each other, the large diameter end ofthe upper conical Wall 18 being unitary with the upper circumferentialwall 10 of the container and the larger diameter end of the lowerconical Wall 18 being unitary with the lower circumferential wall 14 ofthe container. Thus the two conical walls 16 and 18 form a joint whichmay be aptly described as reentrant since it extends radially inwardly.

At least one of the two conical walls 16 and 18 is suitably resilientlyflexible for reversal with a snap-action to cause the reentrant joint toexpand and contract with a snap action. In this instance the lowerconical wall 18 resists deformation but the upper conical wall 16 isreadily reversible between the two configurations shown in FIGS. 2 and3. Thus the expansile joint formed by the two conical walls 16 and 18 isbistable in the sense that it tends to stay either fully contracted orfully expanded.

It is important to note that both of the circumferential walls 10 and 14of the two body sections are of suificient axial dimension to enable theuser to grasp the two body sections by two hands respectively for thepurpose of causing relative movement between the two body sections toexpand or contract the snap-action joint. If the container is fullyexpanded as shown in FIG. 2 and manual force is applied progressively tomove the two body sections 10 and 14 towards each other, the bistablejoint initially resists the relative movement and then assists therelative movement with a snap action. On the other hand, with thebistable joint contracted as shown in FIG. 3 progressively appliedmanual force to separate the two body sections is initially resisted bythe joint and then is assisted by the joint with a snap action.

To make the container self closing, the upper body section 10 has anaxially reentrant end wall 20 in the form of an inverted cone which isshaped and dimensioned to cooperate with the circular opening 22 that isformed by the juncture of the two conical walls 16 and 18. Thus when theexpansile joint is expanded as shown in FIG. 2 the conical wall 18 isspaced from the circular opening 22 to permit the contents of thecontainer to be dispensed 4 through the opening. On the other hand, whenthe expansile joint is contracted as shown in FIG. 3 the conical endwall 20 seats in the circular opening 22 in a fluid-tight manner.

It is important to note that the conical end wall 20 seats in the oening 22 before the conical Wall 16 reverses to its maximum potentialextent, the seating of the conical end wall, in elfect, interrupting thereversal of the conical wall 16. Thus the conical wall 16 serves as aspring means to apply continuous closing force to the end wall 20 whenthe container is closed.

The container shown in FIGS. 1-4 is provided with a dispensing openingwhich may be at any location above the circular opening 22 when theconical end wall 20 is seated in the circular opening. In thisparticular embodiment of the invention a V-shaped dispensing opening 24is provided in the conical end wall 20.

It is apparent that the container may be readily opened or closed bysimply grasping the two body sections 10 and 14 to move the bodysections apart to open the container or to move the body sectionstowards each other to close the container. It is also apparent that thedescribed container may be molded economically in two parts which partsmay be suitably bonded together. For example, the line of divisionbetween the two molded parts may be at the juncture of the end wall 20and the circumferential wall 10.

A feature of the preferred practice of the invention is the concept ofreleasably interconnecting the two body sections 10 and 14 to keep thefilled container closed during handling and shipment prior to ultimateuse of the container. In this particular practice of the invention thewhole container is enclosed in a shrunk plastic envelope 25 that notonly interconnects the two body sections to keep the snap-action jointcontracted but also protects the whole container including thedispensing opening 24 and the inverted conical end wall 20 against dustand other foreign material. Such a shrunk plastic envelope may be easilyruptured and removed without the necessity of employing any specialtool. Once the shrunk plastic envelope is removed the container may bereadily opened and closed by manual manipulation.

The second embodiment of the container shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 has anopen upper body section 30 of slightly flared configuration with acircumferential wall 32 and has a larger lower body section 34 ofsomewhat bulbous configuration with a circumferential wall 35. The twobody sections 30 and 34 are interconnected by a [snap-action joint ofthe character heretofore described comprising an upper conical wall 36and a lower conical wall 38. Here again, the two conical walls 36 and 38are unitary with each other at their smaller ends to form a circularcontainer opening 40. At least one of the two conical walls 36 and 38 isreversible, in this instance the lower conical wall 38 being reversibleand the upper conical wall being non-reversible.

For the purpose of closing the cricular opening 40 to seal the containerwhen desired, the bottom wall of the container has an axially reentrantportion 42 that is preferably of tapered configuration to fit into thecircular opening 40 with a wedging action. When the upper body section30 is manually progressively forced downwardly from the open position ofthe container shown in FIG. 6, the joint contracts with a snap action tobring the circular opening 40 into sealing engagement with the reentrantportion 42 of the container as shown in FIG. 7. On the other hand withthe container closed as shown in FIG. 7, progressive manual forceapplied to the two sections 30 and 34 to lift the upper section relativeto the lower section causes the joint to assume its expanded state witha snap action. Here again, when the container is closed, the joint actsas a spring to maintain pressure contact between the opening 40 and thereentrant portion 42 of the container. Preferably a shrunk plasticenvelope 44 encases the container to keep the container closed until thecontainer reaches the ultimate purchaser.

The third embodiment of the container shown in FIGS. 8-11 comprises anupper body section 50 of tapered configuration with a circumferentialwall 52 and a lower body section 54 with a circumferential wall 55, thetwo body sections bein interconnected by an expansile joint comprisingan upper wall 56 and a lower conical wall 58. The bottom wall of thecontainer is formed with an axially reentrant portion 60 which wedgesinto the tapered upper body section 50 to close the container when theexpansile joint is contracted as shown in FIG. 11. As may be seen bycomparing FIGS. and ll the contraction of the expansile joint isaccomplished by reversal of the upper conical wall 56 with a snap actionand here again the expansile joint serves as spring means to providesustained sealing pressure when the container is closed.

FIG. 8 shows how the upper and lower body sections 50 and 54 may bereleasably interconnected by a circumferential series of short uprightstrips 62 of adhesive tape to keep the filled container closed duringhandling and shipment prior to the ultimate use of the container. Thestrips 62 may be suflicient frangible to be manually ruptured with easeor the strips may be coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive to permitthe strips to be readily peeled ofi by the user.

FIGS. 9 and 11 show the means for releasably interconnecting the twobody portions prior to the ultimate purchase of the container maycomprise a circumferential tape 64. Preferably the tape '64 is of a wellknown type which is applied wet and which then shrinks as it dries, theshrinking action pulling the two body portions of the container towardseach other for the purpose of firmly closing the container opening.

My description in specific detail of the selected embodiments of theinvention in specific detail of the selected embodiments of theinvention will suggest various changes, substitutions and otherdepartures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of theappended claims. For example, both of the conical walls that make up anexpansile joint may be reversible for expansion and contraction of thejoint. It is also to be noted that some features of the invention may becombined with an expansile joint in which the larger ends of the twoconical walls are unified with each other to make a joint that protrudesradially from the body of the container instead of extending inwardlytowards the interior of the container.

I claim:

1. A self-closing container comprising:

an upright hollow body of flexible material forming a container with anupper opening, the hollow body being divided into an upper section and alower section by an expansile joint, each of said sections having acircumferential wall, the upright hollow body and the expansile jointbeing of substantially uniform thickness,

said expansile joint comprising two conical walls of frusto-conicalconfiguration, each conical wall having a larger end and a smaller end,two contiguous ends of the two conical walls being united with eachother,

said two contiguous ends being like ends with respect to large andsmall,

the other two ends of the two conical walls being united with saidcircumferential walls of the upper and lower body sections,respectively,

at least a particular one of said two conical walls being reversible tomove the upper body section downward relative to the lower body sectionwith a snap action for contraction of the joint and alternately to movethe upper body section upward relative to the lower body section with asnap action for expansion of the joint,

two portions of the container being shaped and dimensioned for mutualabutment to close the upper end of the container in response to thecontraction of the joint and to open the upper end of the container inresponse to expansion of the joint,

the particular one of the two conical walls being bistable at itsdownward and upward positions, without being artificially retained byany other portion of the hollow body, to provide for a retention of theparticluar one of the two conical walls in its downward and upwardpositions and to provide for a continued closing of the upper end of thecontainer in the bottom position of the particular one of the twoconical walls,

said circumferential walls of the two body sections respectively beingof suificient axial extent to permit the two sections to be graspedsimultaneously by two hands for application of manual fonce to move thetwo sections relatively towards and away from each other to open andclose the container.

2. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 1 in which one of saidtwo portions of the container is an axially reentrant portion of thelower body section.

3. A self-locking container as set forth in claim .2 in which one ofsaid two portions of the container is a tapered upper end of the upperbody section and the other of the two portions is an axially reentrantportion of the lower body section.

4. A self-closing container comprising:

an upright hollow body of flexible material forming a container with anupper opening, the hollow body being divided into an upper section and alower section by an expansile joint, each of said sections having acircumferential wall, the upright hollow body and the expansile jointbeing of substantially uniform thickness,

said expansile joint comprising two conical walls of frusto-conicalconfiguration, each conical wall having a larger end and a smaller end,two contiguous ends of the two conical walls being united with eachother,

said two contiguous ends being like ends with respect to large andsmall,

the other two ends of the two conical walls being united with saidcircumferential walls of the upper and lower body sections,respectively,

at least a particular one of said conical walls being reversible to movethe upper body section downward relative to the lower body section witha snap action for contraction of the joint and alternately to move theupper body section upward relative to the lower body section with a snapaction for expansion of the joint,

two portions of the container being shaped and dimensioned for mutualabutment to close the upper end of the container in response to thecontraction of the joint and to open the upper end of the container inresponse to expansion of the joint,

the particular one of the two conical walls being bistable at itsdownward and upward positions, without being artificially retained byany other portion of the hollow body, to provide for a retention of theparticular one of the two conical walls in its downward and upwardpositions and to provide for a continued closing of the upper end of thecontainer in the bottom position of the .particular one of the twoconical walls,

said circumferential walls of the two body sections being of suflicientaxial extent to permit the two sections to be grasped simultaneously bytwo hands for the application of manual force to move the two sectionsrelatively towards and away from each other to open and close thecontainer; and

means releasably interconnecting the two body sections of the containerwith the expansile joint in contracted state to keep the filledcontainer closed during handling and shipment prior to ultimate use ofthe container.

5. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 4 in which saidinterconnecting means is made of sheet material and is adhesively bondedto the two body sections.

6. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 5 in which said sheetmaterial is bonded to the two body sections by pressure-sensitiveadhesive.

7. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 4 in which the twobody sections are interconnected by an envelope of easily rupturablematerial enclosing the whole container.

8. A self-closing container comprising:

an upright hollow body of flexible material forming a container with anupper opening, the hollow body being divided into an upper section and alower section by an expansile reentrant joint, each of said sectionshaving a circumferential wall,

the hollow body and the expansile reentrant joint being of substantiallyuniform thickness,

said reentrant joint comprising an upper conical wall and a lowerconical wall, each of the configuration of a truncated cone, said upperconical wall having its larger end uppermost and united with thecircumferential wall of the upper body section,

said lower conical wall having its larger end lowermost and united withthe circumferential wall of the lower container section,

the smaller ends of the two conical walls being united with each other,

at least one of said conical walls being reversible to move the upperbody section downward relative to the lower body section with a snapaction for contraction of the joint and alternately to move the upperbody section upward relative to the lower body section with a snapaction for expansion of the j two portions of the container being shapedand dimensioned, for mutual abutment to close the upper end of thecontainer in response to the contraction of the joint with a snap actionand to open the upper end of the container in response to expansion ofthe joint with a snap action,

the particular one of the two conical walls being bistable at itsdownward and upward positions, without being artificially retained byany other portion of the hollow body, to provide for a retension of theparticular one of the two conical walls in its downward and upwardpositions and to provide for a continued closing of the upper end of thecontainer in the bottom position of the particular one of the twoconical walls,

said circumferential walls of the two body sections being of sufi'icientaxial extent to permit the two sections to be grasped simultaneously bytwo hands for the application of manual force to move the two sectionsrelatively towards and away from each other to open and close thecontainer.

9. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 8 in which one of saidtwo portions of the container is at the juncture of the two conicalwalls.

10. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 8 in which one ofsaid two portions of the container is an axially reentrant portion ofone of said body sections of the container.

11. A self-closing container as set forth in claim 10 in which one ofsaid two portions of the container is an axially reentrant portion ofthe bottom wall of the container.

12. The self-closing container set forth in claim 2 wherein the uppersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

13. The self-closing container set forth in claim 2 wherein the lowersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

14. The self-closing container set forth in claim 2 wherein the lowersection engages the upper section in the contracted relationship of theexpansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

15. The self-closing container set forth in claim 4 wherein the uppersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

16. The self-closing container set forth in claim 4 wherein the lowersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

17. The self-closing container set forth in claim 4 wherein the lowersection engages the upper section in the contracted relationship of theexpansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

18. The self-enclosing container set forth in claim 9 wherein the uppersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

19. The self-enclosing container set forth in claim 9 wherein the lowersection engages the expansile joint in the contracted relationship ofthe expansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

20. The self-enclosing container set forth in claim 9 wherein the lowersection engages the upper section in the contracted relationship of theexpansile joint to close the upper portion of the container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,918,109 7/1933 Joyce 2063,260,425 7/1966 Moran 222541 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,073,338 1/ 1960 Germany.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

N. L. STACK, Assistant Examiner.

